from RTE news Ireland’s Ciara Mageean has won a bronze medal in the final of the Women’s European Championships 1500m in Amsterdam
Mageean claimed her medal in a time of 4:33.78 and she was just .02 of a second behind second placed Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands with Poland’s Angelika Cichocka claiming gold in a time of 4:33.00.
It was an impressive display from Mageean who stormed home to finish among the medals, having appeared to be boxed in on the inside lane in the closing stages.
In what was a physical race, the Irish woman lost some valuable time as she had to move from the inside lane to the outside in the final stretch, but she still had the power to kick for home and force Norway’s Ingvill Makestad Bovim into fourth place.
There was agonising disappointment for the Ireland 4x400m men’s relay team as they finished .07 second of a outside of the Olympic qualification time.
A season’s best time of 3:04.32 was enough for fifth place for the Irish team of Brian Gregan, Craig Lynch, David Gillick and Tomas Barr but just off that crucial Olympic time, despite a surging final leg from Barr.
""We gave it out best shot but today it just wasn’t enough to get us in that qualifying spot," Barr said afterwards.
Gillick, back after nearly three years in retirement, ran a superb third leg and admitted the team’s dismay at missing out on Rio.
"Yes, we were focused on times but we had a chat beforehand and said that this was a race and we needed to beat these lads.
"We’re bitterly disappointed because we came so, so close. Seven hundredths of a second is nothing. But we can come off the track with our head held high agianst the best 400m runners in Europe.
"We put everything on the track there."
Belgium took gold with silver going to Poland the Great Britain claiming bronze as they faded badly in the final straight.
There is still the chance that the Ireland team could go to Rio if one of the top 16 nations decides against sending a team to the Olympics, with Ireland currently sitting in 17th place.
In the men’s 5000m Ireland’s Kevin Batt finished in 17th place in a time of 14:20.50, well off his season’s best time of 13:42.82.
Earlier in the day Michelle Finn set a new personal best as she finished a creditable seventh in the final of the 3,000m steeplechase.
The Cork athlete came home in a time of 3:43.19, knocking 15-hundredths of a second off her previous career best, as she held her own in a race won by German Gesa-Felicitas Krause in a European-leading time of 9:18.85.
The 26-year-old was the best of three Irish finalists, with Sara Treacy crossing the line in ninth in 9:45.19, just ahead of 12th-placed Kerry O’Flaherty.
The morning’s action saw a strong showing from Ireland’s men’s team that ensured a seventh place finish in the half marathon.
Tadesse Abraham won the race in a time of 1:02:03 in warm conditions in the Dutch capital, but the Irish team put in a highly impressive performance to claim seventh position overall.
Paul Pollock was the first across the line for the team in 17th position in a time of 1:04:28, with Mick Clohisey (32nd), Kevin Seaward (34th) and Sergiu Ciobanu (57th) finishing well in a field that saw 84 competitors complete the race.
Kaan Kiegan Ozbilen, representing Turkey, finished second in a time of 1:02:27 while Daniele Meucci finished 11 seconds further back in third position for Italy.
